Specials
by The Specials
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The Specials bestography
Specials is ranked as the best album by The Specials.
(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).
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Specials track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 80 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.
Specials rankings
Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings). Click to see how the rankings are calculated (Last updated: 6 hours ago)
| Year | Source | Chart | Rank | Rank Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | xhitmanx | Top 29 Music Albums of 1979 | 23/29 | 1 |
| 2026 |  covecove | Top 50 Music Albums of 1979 | 50/50 | 0 |
| 2026 | jonny5244 | Album Club 301 - | 20/84 | - |
| 2026 | tim0505 | Top 48 Music Albums of 1979 | 9/48 | 4 |
| 2026 | cicadelic | Top 100 Music Albums of 1979 | 56/100 | 2 |
| 2026 | fabm0 | List 1979 | 54/100 | - |
| 2026 | Olli | Top 100 Music Albums of the 1970s | 71/100 | 6 |
| 2026 |  zags7000 | Top 100 Music Albums of 1979 | 48/100 | 3 |
| 2026 | tim0505 | Top 100 Music Albums of the 1970s | 99/100 | 0 |
| 2026 | henrygreen0203 | Top 35 Music Albums of 1979 | 23/35 | 2 |
| Total Charts: The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. | 400 | |||
| Total Rank Score: The total rank score. | 1,740 | |||
Specials collection
Showing latest 20 members who have this album in their collection | Show all 239 members
Specials ratings
Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AVwhere:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.
Showing latest 3 ratings for this album. | Show all 472 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 3 days ago |  Purplepash | 5,027 | 75/100 |
| ! | 08/30/2026 19:01 |  djrodo | 1,035 | 81/100 |
| ! | 07/22/2026 02:44 | xhitmanx | 1,604 | 75/100 |
Rating metrics:
Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)
This album is rated in the top 3% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 77.6/100, a mean average of 76.5/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 77.7/100. The standard deviation for this album is 15.0.
Specials favourites
Showing latest 10 members who have added this album as a favourite | Show all 78 members
Specials forum mentions
BestEverAlbums 3 days ago in Monthly Overall Chart Movements - October 2026View latest topic →
Purplepash 3 days ago in What album are you listening to? (cont.)View all forum mentions
Specials comments
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This is ranked outside the top 500 albums! Incomprehensible!! This is a real classic- so much energy, humour and personality. This album is a joy. So many classics including their peerless cover of "a message to you Rudy". The pace never lets up and the tracks simply burst out of the speakers. Highly recommended. (Edited)
Graeme2 TOP 100 COMMENTER 11/29/2013 13:37 | #95317 | TOP COMMENT
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Released same year as london calling and makes that album look like old hat by old men trying too hard. This is just way cooler and better at saying where things were at in 79. Follow up great too.
Arguably the best ska album ever made. While strong arguments can be made for virtuosity, Specials proves that sometimes simple music and rudimentary playing makes it easier for a young and wide eyed rock band to create the sound of themselves having fun. An especially impressive task considering dark subjects as racial tensions and urban decay. The cover songs, though often serious in tone themselves, add some relief to the dark realities of Jerry Dammer's originals. "It's up to You" alone holds some crucial DNA for Operation Ivy, Sublime and many, many others.
neilgee 08/20/2016 22:15 | #173155 | TOP COMMENT
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I did see them in 1980. What I remember most from the concert (at King's Hall, Blackburn, UK) was the crowd chanting 'Rico, Rico' in praise their amazing trombonist who played every song like it was a 60's ska classic. I saw Terry Hall turn his ear to the crowd in a 'what are you chanting?' gesture, before he got it and turned to point towards their elderly trombonist in tribute. It was a great moment.
Possible the best example of ska ever. The Specials bridged the gap between the raw energy of 70s punk and the energetic vibe of what would become 80s ska. The Specials had a great musical engine but also provided a social commentary different from many of the bands at the time. You can here some touches of their influence in punk that came later and more obviously in the new wave ska to follow.
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